Cheerful Abundance

a field notebook of suburban life

100 Days

So, the “100 Days of School” celebration is apparently a real thing, and not just some elaborate Pinterest-inspired practical joke. Who knew? Since it falls in the same week as Valentine’s day, and a short school week, and because I only have so much patience in my bones for crafty shenanigans, I decided to go simple for the shirts, making them cute enough to double as pajama shirts or play out in the backyard in, but not so cute they would qualify as regular clothing. Fabric markers from Walmart, and boys’ undershirts, and there you go: 100 letters and numbers. G. was kind of rock-star with this project, and wrote about 35 letters herself before giving up. In her defense, the fabric markers were a bit annoying on jersey. M, on the other hand, was in no mood to do a team project with specific instructions, and gave up, so we made her shirt for her. and then finished G’s shirt up. After a careful proofreading job to make sure we didn’t inadvertently write any good swears or inappropriate words, we were good to go.

I think they had fun at their school’s “100th Day of School” celebration, although it is funny to hear them describe their days, because what a kindergartner thinks is important information to share, and what I think I want to know, are two lines of inquiry that never intersect. I did hear about who cried because their shirt was so uncomfortable to wear (put away the glue gun, PinterestMommy), who wasn’t allowed to wear their shirt because it was so fragile, but did carry it around on a hangar all day, who used an unkind word, who had to go in time out for unkind hands, and who wet their pants. I get the ‘wet pants’ report every week, and I am happy to share with you that pretty much everyone in kindergarten has wet their pants at some point this year. Big surprise! I also learned that while discussing the number 100 in class, one of my girls shared that she wanted one hundred dollars, that her mother was 100 years old, and that our dog weighs 100 pounds. All of that is factual information. Given that she used to tell me I was 150, I am counting it as a win.

Next up, making valentines. 50 valentines. Do you know how much fun it is to do 50 of anything with two children, after a hard day of kindergartening? And I can’t just go buy a few boxes and call it a day, because we are deep into the IEP process, and if I know anything about the subjectivity of public education, it is that appearing like an engaged, screen-time-limiting, fun-project-doing, co-curricular-home-play kind of parent plays a big role in the kinds of services your children can be eligible for. And we need all the services, so…. off to the glitter table for me! If I glue my fingers shut, please wedge a highball glass into my clenched claw-hand so that I can still drink like a lady. Thanks!